There’s the former provider convicted in 1995 of fraudulent billing who’s still paying monthly restitution 17 years later, $200 at a time. His debt to the state is now down to $20,000. Then there’s Dawn Solomon, a Harrison woman who bilked MaineCare out of more than $4 million through her company that provided services for […]
MaineCare
Posted inOur View
Get the facts about federal health and retirement programs — and make up your own mind
The fate of Social Security, MaineCare, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act rests on the election come November, so believes the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare. This committee, which is a coalition that includes the Maine League of Young Voters, AARP Maine and the Maine Alliance of Retired Americans, presented a forum […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
DHHS ready to notify Medicaid recipients of lost benefits
AUGUSTA — The Department of Health and Human Services is preparing to notify some Mainers who are expected to lose their health insurance coverage under Medicaid soon. Come Oct. 1, thousands of Mainers are slated to lose benefits under MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program, through controversial cuts aimed at balancing the budget that have fiercely […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Don Berry: Medicare, Medicaid funding at risk
What would make you jump up out of your recliner and run out to vote? I mean, really leap out of your chair, and run on your own two feet down to the town hall or school gym? I suppose there aren’t many things that we care about that much. But here is one that […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
DHHS largely averts expected $12.5 million shortfall
AUGUSTA — The Maine Department of Health and Human Services has averted most of an anticipated $12.5 million shortfall that threatened to delay payments to health providers who treat MaineCare recipients. In a memo to lawmakers on Friday, DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew said the shortfall, expected to throw off the books as the fiscal year […]
Posted inLetters
R. Malaby: MaineCare budget increased
I read with some interest Richard Fochtmann’s letter to the editor of June 16. I found the letter to be ill-informed, at best. Fochtmann contends that the recently passed budget (LD 1746) eliminated $11 million in MaineCare funding, forgoing an additional $20 million in federal matching funds. He then went on to point out the […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Budget, bonds on Maine lawmakers’ agenda
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The state budget, bonds and property rights are on the agenda as Maine lawmakers return to the State House to conclude their 2012 session. Legislation to fill a roughly $80 million hole in the state Department of Health and Human Services budget, largely through MaineCare cuts, must be acted on after […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine Medicaid patients face losses under budget cuts
PORTLAND — Tricia Clark will keep her fingers crossed when the Legislature reconvenes this week and takes up a budget plan that calls for sharp cuts in Medicaid and health care spending. Clark, 19, stands to lose out when the Legislature votes on a plan to slash spending on Medicaid and a slew of other […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Settlement reached in Maine disability lawsuit
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A federal judge in Maine has approved a settlement in a class action lawsuit on behalf of 40 people with long-term disabilities who wanted opportunities to live outside nursing homes. District Judge Nancy Torreson on Wednesday approved the settlement in a suit brought against the Maine Department of Health and Human […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Methadone clinics feeling pain of state budget cuts
Jessica Payne got hooked on drugs at just 16 years old. A prescription for Percocet to treat her chronic pain and a birth defect in her hands opened the door to what would stretch into more than a decade of addiction. “I would do whatever was put in front of me, whether it was uppers, […]